During the afternoon of May 6th, the Nimitz-class aircraft-carrier ‘George H. Bush’, the Ticonderoga-class destroyer ‘Philippine Sea’ and the F-100 frigate ‘Cristóbal Colón’ carried out an exercise in the Arabian Sea to enhance joint training in air defense procedures.
Before the exercise the chief of operations of the ‘Philippine Sea’ embarked on the frigate ‘Cristóbal Colón’ to follow the drills from the combat information centre (CIC) of the Spanish warship. Once on board the US Navy officer met the Flag-officer of the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG-2), Rear-admiral Eugenio Díaz del Río and the frigate’s commanding officer, Commander Enrique Núñez de Prado.
In the course of the air defense exercise eight F-18 aircraft and an electronic warfare E/A-6B from the ‘George H. Bush’ participated. After the exercise, the frigate continued sailing towards the Strait of Ormuz for a logistic port of call at Dubai (UAE).
[mappress] Press Release, May 13, 2014; Image: Spanish Navy